Back-Story Troubles

[guru7892]

I'm planning on submitting my charictar (cause that's what people do) but I find it difficult do to my lack of knowledge in this world.

the ciff notes of my back story are:

I was born, yet it was apparent that my mothers husband wasn't my father.
my father preceeded to burry me in classes of the arcane,in sowrdplay, and in navigation (since he was a merchant). yet, I found freinds with my mother and sister, and a sibling rivalry with my brother. my father tended to aviod me, but doesnt hate me. after i started looking for my real father i found my mother to be silent on the subject, and when i pressed my father for information he flew into a rage and eventually had me set to work on one of his merchant vessles. It crashed, and after days at sea and more days of travle i arrived in Hlint and now im trying to decide what to do.

yet i have some burning holes in my story

where was i born?
basically any port not apart of Mistone would do, the farther away the better. (but where?)

also I need names for my mother, father, sister, and older bro, as well as a last name. now i could call them Wylencia,Garthrop,Zercia, and Jaidolur of The House of Serioguth. (with my unlce being Dazzrop of the House of Nelica, since he's from my mother side). and I could say we are from the port of Rodez (note, I randomly picked a city by the sea).

yet before I just throw names around and pick a port, i know i should be aware of something.

I really would like to learn of some merchant-ports that you may find users of magic and swords, as well as possible planar connections, outside of Mistone. above all else I need a port for my back-story so start in.

[silverblades]

Wait a minute ive seen that on Opra..the mother son brother brother bad dad father son thing..hehe..sorry just a little humor.
Serously now...You need to read the players handbook,download and read at your leisure. if not for the RP value, but just so you know whats going on here, you wont be disippointed. The GM's here have put alot of attention to detail into it, and its worth your time to read it through, well at least the sections on organizations and geography,known NPC's. This way your up to snuff on all the latest stuff and you dont look like a troll when you ask your fellow PC next to you who Blood is.

[miltonyorkcastle]

Silverblades is right.  Sit and read the handbook over the holidays.  But, other than that, the big merchant ports not on Mistone are Point Harbor (huge merchant town) and Lorindar.  There are other ports, of course, but they are either not as predominant or are currently owned/run by the shadier (evil) elements in the world.

Also, your appearance in Hlint doesn't really involve direct travel, as you appear there after you are called by Great Dragon.  Your character may have never been to Hlint before he was "called."  

If you find yourself at a loss for names, hop on the internet, pick an ethnicity (like Celtic or Egyptian), and "google" the chosen ethnicity i.e. "Nordic names" etc.

Just some ideas.  Good luck on the character development!  It usually takes me months to even halfway flesh out a character background.

[cappyra]

Take a look at the following forums.

The first is Character Submissions.

http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=47

Check all the sticky threads first.  It will save you some heartburn later and expedite your character approval.  The most common mistakes that people make when first applying are:

- submitting evil characters  (not allowed)

- submitting CN characters (not allowed until you have at least one 10th level character AND been here for at least two months)

- applying for subraces or PrCs and having a small paragraph as a bio.  Also at times certian subraces are restricted so that the server is not loaded with a hundred Chatic Good dual weilding Drow Rangers.

- Naming thier character after a historic, literary, or movie character.  (Drizzt, Britney Spears, Stalin)

- Their character comes from some other demension.

- Their character is royalty

The best thing to do is to read the stickys and read the player handbook.  If your character is from a specific region/place then make sure you pay special attention to the history around that area when writing your back story.


The next area is Chararters that have been approved.  The benefit should be self explanatory.

http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=122


There are also some nice maps.  Just click on the link in the upper right corner of this web page.  This may help give you a concept of the region of your characters upbringing.

When you finally submit your character...  BE PATIENT.   I know you are probably chewing at the bit to get into Layonara, and for good reason, but be patient.  Bumping your submission and PMing GMs will not speed up the process.  We have a great GM team.  They have a huge job keeping Layonara a great place to play.

I hope this helps and see you IG

Welcome to Layonara

[miltonyorkcastle]

Cappy put it perfectly.  When you finally figure out your character background, follow his advice.

[guru7892]

as an update, i posted my back-story in the char submission forms and can be found here

also, the char submission board really hasn't gotten a lot of attention... or maybe its just my hours...